“with Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, ministering before it.) They asked, ‘“Shall we go up again to battle with Benjamin our brother, or not?”’ The LORD responded, “‘Go, for tomorrow I will give them into your hands.”
~ Judges 20:28
Hi James and Ellen,
How many guys, gals and kids who are living in the United States do you think know something about the state, city, town and community where they live? You are living in Newark, Delaware. What do you know about the city of Newark? What do you know about the state of Delaware? Your grandpaa just checked a site on the internet that says that the city of Newark covers less than nine square miles, that about 30,000 guys, gals and kids live in the city of Newark, that over 800,000 guys, gals and kids live in the state of Delaware, that the state of Delaware is the second smallest state of the fifty United States states and that the state of Delaware covers about 2,489 square miles. Do you know of an infamous occurrence that happened in the city of Newark or in the state of Delaware? Infamous describes a guy or gal who did something abhorrent that made him or her become detested by other guys and gals. Gibeah – a town that was located about three miles north of the city of Jerusalem and in the Benjamin tribal clan’s land area, has infamous history. Eleven Israelite tribal clans were allotted land areas by lots in the land area that was known as Canaan – which was on the west side of the Jordan River, after God’s specially chosen guys conquered and destroyed almost all the people groups that were living in Canaan. This land area that was once Canaan would become known as Israel. Israel is the land area that God had promised his specially chosen guys and gals that they would always have to live in as their very own land if . . . Israel’s land area covered about 12,000 square miles. Israel’s land area today is about three times larger than the state of Delaware’s land area. Benjamin’s tribal clan’s land area ended up being one of the smallest land areas that was allotted by lots to the eleven Israelite people group’s tribal clans over 3400 years ago after God’s specially chosen guys had conquered Canaan’s land area. The land area that the Benjamin tribal clan’s guys and gals were allotted by a lot – which included the city of Jerusalem, covered about 300 square miles. The state of Delaware’s land area is about eight times larger than the area of land that was allotted by lot to the Benjamin tribal clan’s guys and gals.
During the 325 years when different judges found themselves playing a leadership role over God’s specially chosen guys and gals in the country of Israel’s land area, some of God’s specially chosen guys and gals throughout the land that God gave to them to always to have to live in as their very own land if . . . did very depraved things. Judges 20 is a recount of what can or will happen if just one or a couple of guys decide to do something unspeakably malevolent or evil – such as what took place in the town of Gibeah. A guy from the Levi tribal clan stopped to stay the night with his concubine in Gibeah. A concubine is a gal who lives with a guy but who is not married to the guy. The night that the Levi tribal clan guy stopped to stay in Gibeah, guys who were living in Gibeah decided to murder for who knows why the Levi tribal clan guy. Instead of murdering the Levi tribal clan guy, guys who lived in Gibeah ended up murdering the Levi tribal clan’s guy’s concubine instead of murdering him. The Levi tribal clan guy was so livid with the guys who lived in Gibeah that he cut into pieces the gal who had been his concubine who had been murdered by the guys living in Gibeah – sending a piece of his concubine who he had cut up into pieces to each one of the ten other tribal clans of God’s specially chosen guys and gals that had been allotted by lot areas of land in the land of Canaan. When guys from the ten other Israelite people group’s tribal clans received pieces of the body of the murdered Levi tribal clan’s guy’s concubine, they were not a happy at all with what guys who lived in Gibeah did to the Levi tribal clan’s guy’s concubine when they murdered kill her. When all the Benjamin tribal clan guys decided to stand behind the guys who were living in Gibeah, they all found themselves having to face the wrath and ire of the other ten tribal clans of God’s specially chosen guys who lived west of the Jordan River.
Because of what a few guys who lived in Gibeah did, 400,000 guys from the ten other Israelite people group’s tribal clans that lived west of the Jordon River got together in Mizpah. These guys met in Mizpah to make plans to avenge the murder of the Levi tribal clan’s guy’s concubine. When the Benjamin tribal clan guys heard about the Mizpah conclave where plans were being made to punish them, the Benjamin tribal clan put together a fighting force of 26,000 guys who were very good at fighting with a sword and 700 left handed guys who were very good at using a slingshot. The Benjamin tribal clan guys won the first battle against the other Israelite people group’s tribal clan guys when they killed 22,000 guys from the ten other tribal clans. The Benjamin tribal clan guys the next day killed another 18,000 guys from the other Israelite people group’s ten tribal clans. After two days of fighting, the Benjamin tribal clan guys were easily beating an armed force of guys that had fifteen times more guys. Why do you think that God would let His own specially chosen guys fight each other? Why do you think that God would let His specially chosen guys kill thousands of guys from their own extended family? Verse 28 reports what God’s specially chosen guys from the ten other tribal clans did after what the Benjamin tribal clan’s guys did to them “with Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, ministering before it.) They asked, ‘“Shall we go up again to battle with Benjamin our brother, or not?”’ The LORD responded, “‘Go, for tomorrow I will give them into your hands.”’ 25,000 Benjamin tribal clan guys were killed in an ambush the next day by the other ten tribal clan guys. Extended families of guys, gals and kids are invariably painfully and negatively affected by an infamous guy, gal or kid who is in their family.
Judges 20 (408)